TestFlight Gone Wrong
by willwrite4fics
Summary: Testing personal jet packs can be dangerous, especially when Cobra decides to interfere. GORY! WARNING GORE and BLOOD. This is angsty. SnakeEyes, Scarlett, Duke, many others.
1. Chapter 1

WARNING WARNING WARNING!!!!

This fic is gory, and if descriptions of injury or blood bother you, PLEASE STOP READING NOW. There's plenty of fluff and fun fics here, that you shouldn't NEED to read this. I tried to keep the angst part to a minimum, but it's a definite heavy angst, heavy blood fic, with a side dish of humor here and there.

SnakeEyes is a central figure.. with a surprising amount of Duke, some Scarlett, Ripcord, Ace, BeachHead(come on, you KNOW he'll be around), Lifeline, in addition to several more Joes.

Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to the GI Joe franchise nor do I make any money from writing this fics, they are only to enhance our appreciation of the great works written and shown by the actual Owners of GI Joe. Kiss butt kiss butt, please don't sue, or I'll give you my yorkie who'll poop on your bed, so you'll give him back.

Remember how much we authors LOVE reviews, and yes, I realize I take a bit of license here and there with how things might work in the Real World. But then, in the Real World, no one would be flying any silly personal jet packs. Also, yes, I still have Duke as a Lieutenant, and I KNOW I KNOW.. he's not one in the canon. Suck it up, too many sergeants for a clear command structure to me, so I gave him a promotion. He's not complaining.

Thanks for reading!

* * * *

Are you still reading? Are you prepared for blood? Cause I don't want any whining later!

* * * *

Cobra interferes with the testing runs of some new personal jetpacks. Hey.. someone has to take the things out, and while certain Joe team members would normally be shoo-ins for testing them, there's always life cropping up and ruining their plans. So Ace is disappointed he'll only get to supervise the test flights.

The new single person jet rigs were compact and looked remarkably like tiny stubby winged jets. About 8 feet from nose to tail, the harness rig underneath looked like the same sort used on hang gliders, only this one was loaded with controls built into the handholds, and each foot slipped into a stirrup to control the flaps.

* * * *

Ace was terribly excited and also extremely grumpy that he couldn't do the last testing flights himself, having snapped his leg escaping from the cockpit of a fighter jet the week before. Instead of him flying it with others, he'd hand picked the three Joes who were strapping in now. Scarlett and Duke both had experience with the clumsier slower original jet packs, and he'd added Snake Eyes in, since he not only was qualified with the old jet packs, but his ultra-fast responses would help to smooth out any issues during flight.

Ace checked the screen for their location, flying over the Nevada desert in a completely empty area. They had a course set up on the ground, and also maneuvers for the fliers to preform to check the units for flight abilities. Once they got comfortable flying the things, they would move low to the ground, to test the stealth abilities on radar, and the ease of handling closer to the ground.

* * * *

Snake Eyes kept shaking his head, sliding the helmet on and tapping the controls on. Scarlett looked at him and yelled over the noise.

"What's up Snakes? Pre-flight jitters?"

He shook his head. *I don't like it much. Something feels wrong today.*

She shifted the harness around her thighs and pulled them tight. "I think you just hate flying using jetpacks. You always have some excuse why you'd rather use some other way. Why did you volunteer to test these, if you don't think they are safe?"

He straightened up and gestured at her. *The jets are safe, I just have a bad feeling today. Besides, personal jets are silly. Other than being stealthy, what good are they?*

The redhead stepped back against her jet unit, which was hooked to the side of the cargo plane. As she started snapping the straps into place, she rolled her eyes at him. "These will be not only nearly invisible on radar, once they are tested, they'll be loaded with weapons, so they will be one of the most maneuverable air cover units ever. Not everyone can free fall out of a plane using a birdman suit and land on the ground without dying. Not everyone has ninja abilities you know."

He tilted his head at her, making sure no one else was looking. *You know I was terrified out of my skin that whole time. If there had been another way.. *

She laughed at him and he shook his head, slightly disgusted he'd fallen for her teasing again. Duke stepped back to where they were, already in his harness.

He began hooking himself up eagerly. "This is gonna be GREAT. I've been waiting for weeks to make this flight."

Snake Eyes twisted a finger at the side of his head, looking at Scarlett who laughed. Ace hobbled back with his clipboard cursing at his leg brace, and double-checked all the hookups and electrical systems. Once they were locked into place, they could lean forward and lift the whole unit on their backs, although it was an obvious struggle for Scarlett. Ace frowned and noted it on his clipboard, since it would be even heavier once weapons were added. It was possible that the units would only be useful to soldiers that were strong enough to lift and carry them easily, or he would have to revamp the design to lighten them.. again. Once they jumped out of the plane, they would kick their feet into the stirrups and be flying, then the weight and awkwardness wouldn't matter. They were designed to fly, not be carried on the ground really.

Snake Eyes took the lead, adjusting his jet pack straps. Duke and Scarlett lined up behind him.

Ace shouted at them over the engine noise of the cargo plane. "These prototypes are really responsive. You know the controls, the trickiest part should be landing, and that's just done hang-glider style. If you need more speed, just feather the throttle gently, don't gun it unless you just have to. Once you make the drop, get straightened out fast, then trigger the engine on, and feather the throttle until you feel it getting up to speed." He motioned at the nose area of the little winged jet packs. "The display right here will give you all the fuel info you should need.. and the rest is on your helmet screens. Head's up display, and full audio hook up." He grimaced at Snake Eyes. "Sorry we couldn't get a text set up, but you have your regular wrist communicator, but you'll have to judge when it's safe to use it. Snake Eyes will be lead.. he's got faster reflexes, and Scarlett and Duke will ride formation behind him. Watch your altitude like a hawk!! Once you start ground maneuvers, you'll be really low, and it wouldn't take a twitch to drive you into the dirt rather than flying over it. Take your time getting used to the things before you go low. You all have compact chutes for emergency, but they won't do any good too close to the ground. Alright, ready to jump?"

He got nods from all three, and he watched carefully as they leaned and lifted the units upright, reaching to check manually the controls.

Snake Eyes suddenly turned slightly to sign at him. *What's the point spread for us all to go splat?* He laughed and shook his head.

There was a shout from the front and Duke and Scarlett moved closer to the cargo doors which began to open. Ace slapped at their shoulders, and gave them thumbs up. Once the door was fully open, Snake Eyes moved up to the drop, bracing his legs as the wind threatened to tug him right out the cargo hatch. He looked back at Ace and crossed himself a few times. "Very funny Snake Eyes.. ready to go?" He gave a nod. "You'll all drop at five second intervals, then you can form up midair. Ready? Five.. four.. three.. two.. ONE! GO!"

Closing his eyes briefly, the commando leaned forward and allowed himself to fall out of the plane. The mini-jet caught air almost immediately, and he felt it begin to level out all on it's own. He hit the engine button and felt them catch. Feathering the controls like he was instructed, he was relieved to hear it smooth out and begin to roar. He kept it slow, waiting for his two team mates to join him.

Scarlett moved up on his right, and then Duke on his left. The lieutenant shouted into his mic. "Okay, let's see what these babies can do!"

He goosed the fuel, and felt the acceleration surge. The hand controls let him twist to get more speed, and he did so, reveling in the high rate of speed he achieved in only moments. The commando moved out ahead, and he could drop his head to look behind him to see both his teammates flying next to each other. He gave a tilt and lean and suddenly the unit dipped and swooped to the right, and with a slight pull on one foot, it swerved upwards, looping easily in response to his movements. He checked behind and saw they had followed easily.

Ace's voice came over his headset. "I have you all on screen, and all the systems are preforming perfectly. Are the head's up displays in the helmets working?" Duke and Scarlett confirmed verbally and Snake Eyes waited a second and blew into his useless mic twice. "Ha! Good. When you're ready, take them down to a thousand feet, and work there, be aware of warm updrafts off the sands, but it's midday so most of the winds have died down."

Snake Eyes dropped the nose slightly and began sloping downwards toward the ground. Watching the altimeter carefully, he nudged himself slightly more level a little at a time, until he was near 1200 feet. Scarlett's comm-link yelped suddenly and he looked back to see her still descending and felt his heart lurch. The jetpack wobbled slightly and then went sideway, finally gaining altitude again.

Ace came on the link again. "Scarlett.. left foot.. nudge it more.. give it more gas.. little more.. now straighten it out." Finally she was flying straight again, and he calmed. "Good good. You have to watch the dives, you can whip it back up easy, but you have to remember to use the flaps, you're not used to foot controls."

Her voice sounded exhilarated rather than scared. "Got it! I was trying to wrench it around but it's going smooth now.. in the pipe.. five by five.. Duke.. you okay over there?"

Duke sounded off. "Going good. This is great! Gonna drop back another couple hundred yards off Snakes.. if he slows down for some reason, we'll be up his tailpipe before we could react." Ace agreed and the two trailing jets dropped back further. Duke tilted over and slipped sideways further from Scarlett and then straightened and leveled out. Now ready for practice runs, he began to call out the marks.

"Take it to point three oh seven, elevation 850 on my mark... three two one MARK." All three shifted in unison, making the turn easily. They spent twenty minutes performing drills.

Ace finally interrupted. "Alright.. take it to the deck guys.. bring it around to point four eight seven five.. drop to elevation 200 feet.. watch for the guide poles." They carefully dove to the proper elevation, leveling out all too close to the unforgiving ground for Snake Eyes peace of mind. At the speeds they were moving, the ground was practically a blur. "You're all in the course, go for green, all you gotta do is follow the course, and stay between one hundred and two hundred feet elevation. Piece of cake."

Flying low, and shifting to maneuver along the shalom course, they passed by the four hundred foot tall towers, going between red and green lighted pairs. The jet packs' abilities at shifting their course on an instant made it easy work. Snake Eyes had nearly begun to relax when he spotted a slight gleam ahead between two of the towers..

..._wires.... stretched in a maze between the two towers.. he started to pull up and realized the two following would never see it in time, and would plow into it.... making a split second decision, he killed his engines, blowing into his mic in warning and wrenched himself around wildly, throwing the jet pack into a uncontrolled spinning tumble in an attempt to get the pack between himself and the oncoming wires. He barely spotted Duke and Scarlett's startled faces in the distance behind him as they suddenly pulled up, shooting upwards to avoid the deadly barrier... then he hit.. wires snapping around him wildly and throwing the jet and himself around like a rubber ball..._

Duke yelled wildly as he watched the engines suddenly cut off in front of them. "Snakes!! What.." As the whole unit began to tumble, he saw the wire field ahead and screamed into the mic as he yanked downwards with both feet to force his jet upwards in a all-but vertical climb. He noted Scarlett doing the same, and winced when the tail of his jet pack caught the edge of one wire, causing a nasty shake which he corrected as best he could. By the time he'd turned to swoop back, Snake Eyes and his jetpack was halfway through the wire jumble, being tossed around like a child's discarded toy.

"NO!! Snake Eyes!! Ace.. man down!! Man down! We need help here! There's a wire trap set between the towers!! Snakes went right into it!"

Scarlett was screaming as she jerked her unit around, diving towards the ground as she watched the helpless tumbling of her lover. She'd seen the wires just before he had hit, the jet taking the initial impact, and snapping the first several wires. Now the whole mess was tumbling, being jerked around every time he hit another of the wire web. His drop slowed as he continued to break wires, but fewer snapped under his weight now. Instead the individual wires caught him and flipped him around, letting him fall to the next. Finally the pack caught on a bottom wire, the last chance to stop him free falling to the ground. It whined loudly as it stretched under his weight, dropping him downward slowly before it snapped on one side, sending him, unit and all, to the earth beneath in a puff of dust.

Duke reached the ground first, having taken more time to get straightened out, he swooped in to land while Scarlett had to take another pass around. When he landed, he fumbled himself out of the harnessing straps tying him to the jet unit and raced across the ground towards the wreckage. He yanked off his helmet and let it fall, grabbing the earpiece and mic back into place. "ACE!! Connect me to Wild Bill's emergency channel.. we need a medic here NOW! Snakes.. hey.. " Reaching the tumbled wreck, he lifted the edge, and managed to hit the emergency harness release, allowing the limp body to collapse to the dirt. Tilting the jet unit over and out of the way, he knelt next to the crumpled figure. "Hey.. can you hear me.. I got help coming." He was unfastening the helmet and easing it off when he finally heard a reply over his comm.

"Wild Bill here, I got Lifeline on board, headed to your twenty now. Where's the wire trap?"

Duke lifted his head to check. "Strung between the eighty-third towers. Probably three hundred feet high. Land to the south, I got him here.. he's breathing... but it's wet sounding.. I gotta turn him over."

Lifeline spoke up. "Keep his neck steady.. don't move him if you don't have to.."

Duke winced as blood sprayed across the sand from a gaping thigh wound. Holding the commando's head, he rolled him onto his back and gasped. The jet unit had taken the initial impact but the wires he'd hit after had sliced him apart. A steady spurt of blood sprayed out of the thigh wound and he grabbed over it, staunching the flow as best he could while dragging his own outer shirt off. Wadding it up, he pressed it over the thigh and leaned down. He tried to assess the worst damage and sucked in a breath as he spotted the throat wound. The source of the wet gasping, it had been torn open and was quickly becoming covered in blood foam. "Hang in there.. " He shifted his hands away and felt the blood begin to pour again, so he put a knee onto the gaping thigh and shifted his weight onto it. He got the first movement then, as Snake Eyes flopped a arm over weakly in protest. The gasping got more ragged. "I know I know.. I gotta stop the bleeding.. Lifeline!! His neck is torn open.."

Scarlett landed to one side and Duke turned to yell at her. "Don't come over here! Get back up and go get Lifeline! He's on the chopper with Wild Bill, you can go pick him up on your jetpack and fly him back here! It'll save at least ten minutes.. and Snakes needs every minute he can get! GO!!" She hesitated only a few seconds.. obviously wanting to go to her lover. "It's the only way! I'm too heavy to carry Lifeline too! Go get him!" She whirled and snapped the harness fastenings back into place and did a ground level vertical takeoff that had to have wrenched her back terribly. Duke switched to the other channel again.

"Lifeline.. tell me what to do! He's got a huge hole in his throat.. there's blood foaming out of it.."

The medic's voice sounded slightly out of breath. "Okay.. is the foam coming from the hole?" Getting a yes, he continued. "Put your hand over the hole and keep it closed.. does that improve his breathing?"

Duke winced and did it, patching the gaping hole with his palm. Almost immediately Snake Eyes twisted feebly and struggled and Duke turned loose, getting spattered with more blood as the stricken man coughed out of the hole. "No!! No he couldn't breathe.. now he's choking.. it sounds like he's gargling blood.. what do I do?"

Lifeline spoke calmly to him. "Is the hole big enough for two fingers to fit in it?"

"Geez dude.. I could put my hand in it.. his whole neck is torn open..."

"Good.. put two fingers in.. then pull the hole open so he can breathe through it.. "

Duke swallowed back nausea and did it. Once he twisted his fingers to open the ragged wound, Snake Eyes' breathing slowed and he could feel the air going past his hand. "Oh god.. I'm gonna be sick.."

Lifeline's voice cracked sharply. "No! You're not! You are going to hold that open until I get there. Stop thinking and just do it! Now look, is he breathing?" Getting a shaky affirmative, he continued. "Is there any bad bleeding?"

"Yeah.. " Duke shifted to lift his knee off the man's thigh but put it back when blood welled up through the shirt padding. "His thigh is sliced to the bone.. and it's spurting blood. I got pressure on it and it seems to have slowed.. as long as I keep my weight on it. He's got a lot of cuts.. " He began to look and spotting a long rip in the shirt, he tugged it open to look at his chest. "Oh.. oh geez..."

The medic's calm voice helped him. "What? How bad?"

Duke swallowed and forbid himself to faint. The darkness that had threatened for an instant left. "I'm looking at his lung.. I think.. his chest is laid open.. he's uhh... he's bleeding really bad from a hundred places.."

"Is the lung inflating?"

Duke gulped. "Yeah.. I can see him breathing.. it's kind of grey... like a balloon..."

"Are there any bubbles? Bubbles coming from the wound?" Getting a negative, he puffed out a breath. "That's fine.. ignore it. If it starts to bubble, it's turned into a sucking chest wound, but as long as there's no valve action, ignore it.. how bad is he bleeding now.. is he awake?"

The blood covered lieutenant leaned up and gave the ninja a little nudge. "Hey! Snakes.. wake up.. can you hear me?" He thought he saw the eyes move a little. Reaching up, he peeled the rest of the torn mask free and tossed it aside, exposing the scarred face that was now smeared with blood. "Snakes.. wake up.. stay with me.. hey.. come on.. you'll be fine.. stay with me.." He shifted again to put a hand around the upper arm and squeeze, making the bleeding there slow. "Lifeline.. I got pressure on his arm.. I think most of the worst bleeding is at least slower now.. but there's a lot of blood here.. I think he can hear me.. but he's not responding."

Scarlett's voice broke in. "Intercepting in two minutes.. WildBill, land and kick Lifeline out... make sure he's in a harness. Grab what you need, I'm landing and snatching you up."

Wild Bill acknowledged. "You got in.. landing in one minute.. HeavyDuty's hooking the harness on him now. Are you sure you can lift with him attached?"

Ace joined in. "The units should carry a person the size of HeavyDuty.. they'll lift Scarlett and Lifeline easily. Duke.. you got a ground unit moving in, should be there in three minutes." Duke nodded to himself.

"See Snakes? Got help coming from all directions.. I guess you should have checked into that betting pool after all." A couple of ragged coughs drove foamy blood out past his fingers again. "Oh yeah.. that was funny.. don't try to laugh.. you'll get blood on my shirt, and I gotta clean these you know." He finally saw the blue eyes open up to look at him and fancied they looked just a little irked. The streaks of blood flowing over his scars made him look especially morbid. "Hey just kidding... don't save no butt-kicking up for me later.." Another cough that was weaker. "Hang in there.. "

He felt his hand plucking at his hip and looked. The ninja was trying to point at his thigh, tugging weakly at Duke's pants leg. "Oh no.. I'm keeping pressure on your thigh.. it's bleeding.. I can't get off it.. sorry.. probably hurts.." A slight nod. "Sorry.. again. Lifeline would probably have a better way.. but I'm not a medic.. I'm just a dumb grunt you know.." Another slight cough and he grinned despite the blood and terror in his heart. "Wait until Doc gets a hold of you, you're gonna be in such trouble." He watched the glazed eyes try to roll. "And Scarlett.. she's fit to be tied already.. she'll wait on you hand and foot.. don't want to miss out on that.. right? Stay with me.. hey.. you hear me?"

Hearing a slight rumble, Duke nodded at the wounded man. "See? Here they come faster than expected." He looked and then groaned. "Blazes!!" He clicked the comm unit. "Guys, I got Cobra headed in.. where's my back up!?" Snake Eyes struggled under him slightly and he pressed down. "Lie still, it's fine..." He glanced up again. "They're headed in from the east, two HISS tanks, I need some help.."

"Making the approach, hang tight. Cobra isn't gonna know what hit them.." Ace sounded grim. Duke considered that he probably was grateful to have a target for frustration about now. However.. the Cobra HISS tanks were approaching faster than Ace could possibly take care of. Duke looked around and dragged his handgun out. Ridiculously outmatched.. and in the open.

He looked down at the scarred face that tilted to try to see what he was looking at. "Hey.. when they get here.. you'll take all the guys to the right, I'll get the ones on the left.. got it?" He was treated to a scathing look, and the ninja lifted his hand up a few inches to give him the finger. "Yeah.. I know. You want all of them to yourself, don't be greedy, let me in the fight too." A heavy wheeze and he pointed feebly to a heap of rocks about two hundred yards away.

Duke looked, then looked at the commando. "Sorry.. no way to get you that far.. I let pressure off, you'll bleed to death before I drag you that far.." Another point and he plucked at Duke's pants leg. "What? Leave you? Really? Seriously? Do you hate me so much you'd do that to me? I leave you here to run off and hide, and Scarlett gets back and finds out?" Snake Eyes nodded at him, pointing again. "No way. Stop trying to tell me what to do, dude.. this is the only time I'm stronger, so I'll kick your lame ninja butt if you don't shut up." The intensely blue eyes narrowed slightly. "Oh.. joking.. you know.. don't save up a butt kicking for me for later.. really.."


	2. Chapter 2

Chap 2

Next chapter.. the rescue continues..

* * * *

Scarlett aimed at the slight figure in red waiting on the ground. Wild Bill had just lifted off again, headed towards the accident zone at top speed. He'd arrive after them by a long margin, but he would have the rest of the emergency gear. Lifeline had stuffed what he could into his small bag and into his shirt. When she landed, he wasted no time, rushing up and holding out straps. She grabbed him and turned him around to face her.

"It's more secure.. good thing I like you a lot, Lifeline."

He was strapped to her front, and reached around her to hold on. "Good thing Snake Eyes likes me.. cause if he found out how hard I'm hanging onto you, he'd be honor-bound to kill me."

She grunted in acknowledgment and did another vertical liftoff, yelling for him to hold tight as she gunned the engines. Lifeline clung to her body, trying to let the harness and straps take most of his weight, and not daring to look down.

Scarlett sped back towards the course triggering her mic open again. "Ace, this is Scarlett, I've got Lifeline and I'm on my way.. ETA eight minutes."

Ace spoke up quickly. "Got it. Duke's got help arriving in two, WildBill should arrive for full evac in twenty."

WildBill broke in. "Make that fifteen.. we're dumping weight to make up speed, tell some of the extra ground troops to follow along my flight path and pick up the junk."

Ace snorted loudly. "I don't think anyone will care if there's a few locker cans and chopper seats laying around in the sand."

Wild Bill managed to sound amused. "No, but uncle Sam frowns on us leaving sidewinder missiles and ammo out in the open if we can help it. Those things weigh a ton, literally.. it'll cut our return flight to base in half or less."

* * * *

Doc had taken over the comm link with Duke. "Hang in there Duke. What's his rate of breathing?"

Duke shook his head still watching the oncoming tanks. "He's still breathing.. sometime he coughs out blood.. real ragged though.. I think he keeps getting it down his windpipe.. I don't know how to keep that from happening.."

Doc's calm voice kept him from losing it. "Settle down.. the only thing that will help that is a vent tube.. until one gets there with someone to put it in, you're doing all you can. Try to keep pressure on the worst bleeding, and keep that airway open. Is he responding at all?"

Shaking the commando gently, Duke spoke to him loudly, trying to keep his attention. "Snake Eyes.. stop it! No sleeping on duty! You stick with me here!" He got the eyes to open, although they were unfocused and blurry. "That's it.. Doc is on the line.. you better act right.. Scarlett is on her way back with Lifeline. Look..." He stared at some dust approaching then triggered the comm link. "I got someone headed in, sound off, who is that?"

A staticy voice came over the comm. "BeachHead here.. I got those tanks Duke.. " The AWEStriker swerved to intercept the tanks.

Duke leaned upwards. "Beach.. you're outmatched.. a Striker versus two HISS tanks.. no contest!"

He heard the laugh. "Yeah.. but I got a cocky lieutenant with a handgun and a wounded ninja backing me up!" The small vehicle pulled between the downed pair and the oncoming tanks and headed for them. Duke saw him pull to a stop about a mile away.

"Beach!! What are you doing?! Don't stop! You'll be a sitting duck!" His comm crackled a little.

"Duke.. I can't man the danged guns if I'm driving, I'm a freaking Army sergeant, not a octopus!" Duke distinctly heard the loud clacks over the comm as he pulled the slide into place on the heavy fifty caliber gun mounted on the top of the Striker. "Alright then... bring it on!" Duke heard the ripping sound of the gun firing.

"He's crazy!" Torn, he looked at the still bubbling neck wound. If he turned loose, Snake Eyes wouldn't be able to breathe.. if he moved, he'd bleed out. There was a sudden explosion and he ducked out of reflex. "I'll be a son of a... he did it... that crazy sergeant blew up a HISS with a fifty cal." There was a loud drone and he looked up as the cargo plane dipped downward. "What??! ACE!!!" He started yelling into his comm. "ACE! That transport doesn't have weapons! What are you doing?! Get back up out of range!" He watched with disbelief as it dipped lower.

Ace's voice came through clearly. "Hey, no Cobra jerks are taking out my test pilots!" The plane leveled out only a few hundred feet off the sands and headed directly for the remaining tank.

BeachHead yelped through the static. "Watch your strafing pattern! I'm down here too!!"

The pilot laughed loudly. "What strafing pattern? I'd move out of the flight path BeachHead! RIGHT NOW!!!" There was a lot of cursing as the Striker was gunned off to the side. The lumbering plane groaned overhead, and Duke saw the rear cargo door wide open as it passed overhead. Snake Eyes reached to tug his arm.

Duke looked down briefly at his confusion. "You got me.. I'm just keeping you breathing.. I'm not in charge anymore obviously."

The plane got closer and suddenly objects were tumbling out of the back. Duke gaped as huge crates fell out the cargo hatch and began landing around the oncoming HISS tank. There was a second explosion as the tank was impacted by two crates. "I can't believe it." He looked at the ninja who shook his head slightly.

Ace yelled in the comm. "Got your snake problem under control, Duke, headed back to base, but I'm sweeping back along their trail to make sure there's no more surprises. Hang in there!"

The AWEStriker wheeled around and began speeding towards them.

"Look.. there's Beach coming now.. you'll have someone other than just me to talk at you.. stay awake.. come on.. COME ON!" He gave a slight shake again and the sliced up hand struggled to flop at him. "You better stay with me. I'm not telling Scarlett I let you go before she got back. You want to make her upset? She'll be upset with you!" The eye widened ever so slightly and a few coughs sounded. "Yeah.. she will be so angry! You better stick around.." He watched the AWEStriker come to a sliding stop, and BeachHead lept out, grabbing a medikit out of the seat next to him and running over at top speed. He slammed to his knees next to them.

"Awww... geez.." His dismayed look showed through the balaclava mask and made Duke glare. "How's the airway? I been listening in.. I got an air tube... " He bent to look, poking a little beside Duke's hand. "Don't move your fingers.. " He yanked open the case and dug out a plastic wrapped tube with bits hanging off it.

Duke sounded doubtful. "BeachHead.. do you know what you're doing?"

The drill sergeant nodded, even as he struggled to open the package. "Yeah, sure.. I blow up tanks, drive vehicles, and fix broken ninjas." He gave a quick grin that crinkled the corners of his eyes. "Yeah, I got some medic training.. we gotta get a tube in.. otherwise, he'll start drowning in his own blood, it'll block off the rest of the airway.. it'll work jus' fine." He bent over to talk to the commando directly. "I'll get ya fixed up 'til Lifeline gets here.." Duke heard Doc's voice over the comm line.

"Wait.. who is that in the background? Who's trying to tube him?" Duke shifted his free leg onto Snakes' arm to keep the pressure on it. He peeled off the headset and handed it to BeachHead who wrapped it around his head with one hand, while digging out a large syringe with the other.

"Yeah? Hello? Yeah, got a vent tube.. yeah it's got the inflater thingy.. getting the syringe now.." He shifted closer to the prone form who was struggling to breathe again. "He's blowing foamy blood Doc.. he needs a trach tube in, and it's gotta be now.. so tell me how ta do it." BeachHead nodded to himself, and got ready to insert the end of the tube. "What? Hang on.." He flipped it around the opposite way. "Okay.. ready.." Duke swallowed. "Inserting it now.. angle downwards.. yeah.. Keep your fingers in there Duke.." Both BeachHead's hands were in the way, and Duke prayed he could do this properly. He could feel the plastic tube poking around next to his fingers. Suddenly it slipped in and over half of it disappeared down the ninja's neck, making Duke look away as he felt nauseous again. The damaged limbs under him struggled briefly.

"Easy Snake Eyes..." Duke took a deep breath, trying not to think how it had to feel for the pinned commando. For once he was helpless and although he had people trying to help him, the pain had to be horrible.

BeachHead grabbed Duke's wrist and yanked his hand away. "Outa the way.. I got it in.. " He attached the syringe to a tiny tube dangling from the airway and plunged air into it. "Got it.. " He removed a long stiff wire from the thick tube and bent to put his cheek next to it, suddenly straightening and yanking his balaclava off in irritation and bending over again. "I feel air.. he's breathing.. not a lot though." The tube made a slight wheeze and he put a hand near the end while adjusting the comm over his ear. "I need to clear it?" He put his own mouth over it and puffed and backed off. "Yeah.. that worked.. he's breathing through it now.. gimme that tape Duke.."

Duke ripped off two pieces of medical tape at the drill sergeant's directions. Each piece wound around the tube and stuck to the neck skin, making certain it wouldn't be dislodged. Then the sergeant looked at him.

"Why the heck are you kneeling on him?" Duke explained about keeping pressure on the worst bleeding and he waved him off the arm first. "Good... gimme his arm.. " A thick pad of gauze was pressed into the still bleeding wound, and more was wrapped around it tightly. Snake Eyes moved his hand over to grab at BeachHead's arm. "Calm down. I'm helpin' ya.. you can breathe now.. I gotta get the rest of this bleeding slowed down too.. Duke's been doing his best.. but ya know fixing people ain't his bag, he hurts people.. not fixes 'em."

Duke reached to wrap a bandage around the left hand as well. "I told him this wasn't my specialty. He really put me on the spot here, kind of awkward to tell the truth. I'd appreciate it Snakes, if you'd only get injured when one of the medical people are around to work on you. You're just making it all hard on me here." The cough reply wasn't as wet sounding now that the tube was in place.

BeachHead gave a short laugh. "It's cause you're a ninja and junk, you can't just stub yer toe like us common folks.. noooo, you gotta run a experimental jet pack into a wire nest. Yer a big ole' show-off. We should be glad ya didn't blow it up while ya crashed."

Snake Eyes managed to lift his mostly undamaged right arm to sign clumsily. *Not head fire again*

BeachHead laughed openly at that rally. "Yeah.. this time ya didn't get yer head set on fire. That's right. Gotta look on the bright side a' life."

Duke looked at the chest wound, where it was sliced along his ribs exposing that grayish blob that moved in an unnatural way. "What should we...?"

Beach took one look and shook his head. "I ain't touching that.. that's Lifeline's bailiwick.. I'm a patcher, not a doctor.. if it ain't acting up, we'll leave it alone. 'sides.. I think I can hear Scarlett.." Sure enough, the returning jet pack got louder and within a minute, it was landing nearby. Scarlett barely got it stopped and on the ground before Lifeline fumbled the straps loose and stumbled away. He was dragging items out of his shirt as he got to their side.

"Update.." He gasped for breath, but listened as he began to check for vital signs and double-checked the airway tube. "Who put this in?" BeachHead admitted to it and he nodded. "Not too bad.. I'll show you the right way after this is all over." He motioned Duke to move off Snake Eyes' thigh. "Move.. " Duke gingerly lifted his knee and winced away when the blood sprayed out anew. "Oh geez... " The medic reached up and triggered his comm unit headpiece. "Doc, I got arterial spray from the left thigh. Trying to find it now." He slid his fingers into the gaping hole and felt around, getting spattered liberally with blood the entire time. His patient struggled slightly, and Duke reached to hold his leg still, while BeachHead bent over his face, putting one surprisingly gentle hand on his forehead.

The gruff voice softened to calm his friend. "Hey hey.. calm down.. Lifeline is helping.. ya gotta be still.." When Snakes pointed downwards at the medic, rolling his eyes to watch, the drill sergeant put his hand and arm in the way, blocking his view. "You don't need to be looking, it aint' nothin' you wanna see.. jus' hang on.. look at me.. it hurts, and you're all cut up, but it's gonna be fine.. Lifeline will fix you up.."

Scarlett knelt down at the commando's head as well, and pressed a bandage over one of the head wounds, staunching the flow of blood. "Be easy.. you'll be okay.." She kept pressure on the opposite arm's deep wound, which had begun to bleed heavier. Despite the tears tracking down her face, she sounded calm.

In contrast, the medic was working with a frantic look on his face now. Digging his fingers deeper into the filleted leg, he felt around. "Doc.. I can't find the femoral.. it's gotta be.. right.. right here..." He suddenly leaned and the bleeding stopped. "Got it.. Doc, I'm gonna have to clamp it.. he'll bleed out otherwise.." He suddenly pointed at Duke. "Get the side pocket of my bag open... right there.. no the other pocket.. " His frustration made Duke feel even clumsier. "Yes that one! Open it.. give me the small hemostats! The hemostats.. no.. the forceps! Those little shiney pinchy things!" The medic snatched them out of his hand. "Get the other pair ready.. see if you can find the suture kit too.. maybe I can tie it off.. if I can grab it." He began working inside the leg wound again, digging down into it with the tiny forceps with seeming disregard for it being attached to a living person. "Yeah Doc.. it's severed.." Without a headset, Duke only heard half the conversation.. but from the sound of it, he wouldn't understand what he heard. "Duke.. get the BP cuff out and check him.." Duke looked at the bag and pulled it open.. what did a 'bp cuff' look like anyway?

BeachHead took pity on him and pulled the bag towards him, still blocking Snake Eyes view, although the commando wasn't struggling anymore. "We'll make it a two-man chore. Here.. take this.. wrap it tightly around his upper arm.. yeah.. right at the top of the bicep.." He put on a stethoscope and pressed the disk under the edge of the cuff in the crook of Snake Eyes arm. "Pump the bulb.. keep going.. keep going.." He was watching the dial and finally nodded. Duke stopped and watched the mysterious procedure. He'd had numerous doctors and nurses use the thing on him, but he had no idea how it actually worked. "Blazes... do it again." He twisted something and then Duke pumped it up for him again. Again, he cursed under his breath and suddenly moved down to snatch it loose and rewrap it. Taking it in hand, he did the same things himself, listening intently for a minute. Then he reached to tap his borrowed comm. "Doc, I can't get a BP, his heartrate is racing.. I got 180 I think..."

Lifeline didn't look around. "Could you shut up? I'm trying to find the end of his artery here.." The normally quiet and placid medic's snap made Duke and BeachHead both close their mouths.

Doc spoke up in the earpiece. "Heartrate's fast because he's lost too much blood, his blood pressure has dropped too low to get a reading.."

Lifeline growled again. "Shut UP!" He dug deeper and got sprayed again as blood pumped out of the wound. "Arg... Doc I can't get it.." He twisted his wrist and stopped the flow again. "I can get my thumb on it.. but I can't grab it.."

Doc's calm assertive tone broke in. "Stop grabbing at the end... grab an inch behind your finger. Just stab in there with the tips barely open.. and grab."

Lifeline gritted his teeth and made a sharp move. "Got it!! It worked.. I got it.. " He twisted and reached a blood covered hand towards Duke. "Suture.. quick.." Scarlett had already gotten it out and peeled the package open. The medic plucked the tiny needle up and began digging around inside Snake Eyes leg again.

Scarlett looked at Duke's pale face. "Duke.. DUKE! Get over there and get WildBill landed. Get the medical bag out of it the instant he's down." Duke nodded and ran off. He hadn't heard the chopper arriving. Now that he looked around, there was a second vehicle approaching.. much slower than BeachHead's AWEStriker, but it looked to be one of the APCs, top speed slightly faster than a fully loaded Yugo. The chopper dropped to the ground where he motioned it to, and he jumped in before the wheels touched down, grabbing the medical bag up and leaping back out headed towards the tiny group huddled on the ground.

Lifeline glanced at him approaching and yelled. "I don't need that! Get the stretcher!! We need him evac-ed NOW!" Duke skidded to a stop and headed back, tossing the kit back in, while WildBill headed over with the lightweight stretcher. Lifeline ordered the pilot back to the chopper, telling him to get the rotors back to speed. Their normally quiet pacifist had transformed completely to a tyrant, pointing people to a task and ordering them all with the authority of a vice admiral.

Once they gingerly moved him onto the stretcher, he was lifted onto the chopper and Lifeline began to peel a plastic sheet loose to place over the open chest wound. He motioned BeachHead up to assist him, and Scarlett was already there, finishing removing the tattered shirt bits.

Duke waved for WildBill to take off, motioning everyone else back. "Let them go!! Less weight the better!!" He watched the chopper lift off carefully then turn and fly away, the speed amazing even to him, and he'd seen WildBill dodging Cobra attacks. He noted that all the missile racks were empty and even the door guns were gone. He commandeered a headset from Dusty who had driven up in the approaching APC. "Who do I have online.. sound off.." Dusty, Tunnel Rat and Clutch said their names, then HeavyDuty checked in. "Heavy D.. where are you?"

"Same coordinates as Scarlett picked up Lifeline. WildBill dumped the missiles here, and I tossed out both fifty cal guns to save weight. Got three boxes of spare ammo and a couple seats too. You better send someone out to pick all of it up before I get tan lines man." Duke puffed out a breath and looked around.

"Dusty, Tunnel Rat, take the APC out, check the wreckage of those tanks, make sure there's no troops sneaking around, then out to Heavy Duty, start loading everything up. Clutch, you and I will get this wreck and Scarlett's jet unit on the AWEStriker. We can't go help at the hospital.. so let's get this cleared up. I want a full unit on these wires.. find out who put them up when, and check every inch for booby traps."

Hawk's voice cut in. "The investigative unit is already assembled and on their way. Duke, I'm sending out support trucks to pick up the gear. Get on site and stay there until they arrive." He paused. "Snake Eyes is still alive. I'll try to keep everyone updated."

Duke gazed at the men standing with him. "Thank you sir. We'll be on point." He clicked off and looked at them. "You heard him, get to it." Before they left, Tunnel Rat hesitated and looked at him. Duke gave him a hard stare. "There a problem?"

The short man scratched the back of his neck. "Uhh... no.. but.. is Snakes bad off? Not alla us had comm access.."

Now Duke looked away. "Yeah.. he was bad off. Let's get to work." A very subdued group headed off in different directions.

* * * *

End Chapter:

Told you.. angsty. Next up.. the ending.


	3. Chapter 3

Chap 3

Last chapter! Can they get him back to the Pit in time?

* * * *

Lifeline was putting in i.v. lines and hanging bags of fluids. "He needs blood.." He bent over his patient. "Hey Snake Eyes.. still with us?" He watched the eyes flutter open and look around. "Alright, you stay awake.. you're gonna be just fine.. have several thousand stitches, Doc and I will get hand cramps tying all those knots.. hope you're happy." He was given a thumb's up from the commando and couldn't help but smile. "You're so difficult. Feeling more alert? The fluids will help a lot.." He reached over and grabbed more bandages to begin working on his other leg. While it didn't have the huge gaping wound his left leg did, it was still sliced badly in a few places.

"Beach.. help me with his leg, I want to wrap these up too, it's not as bad as that left.." BeachHead reached under Snake Eyes thigh to lift the leg up, and jumped when blood poured out. "Oh no.." The medic grabbed bandages and leaned down. "Pick it up higher.." Scarlett gasped in horror as the crimson stain flooded the stretcher and spilled onto the chopper deck. Lifeline whipped a strip of bandage around the upper thigh and tied it off, twisting it tightly to slow the bleeding. Then he tried to find the bleed. "Oh geez..." He triggered the comm unit. "Doc.. I got a secondary bleed on his other thigh."

Scarlett patted the commando's cheek. "Snake Eyes.. Snake Eyes.. please.. he's fading Lifeline.. do something.." She leaned down and spoke to his face earnestly as his eyes dimmed. "Come on, stay with me.. hang on.. we're almost to base.. Doc is waiting for you.. stay with me.. no no.. " She watched with horror as his skin paled visibly and the almost alert eyes became unfocused and rolled up into his head. "Lifeline!!"

The medic tightened the tourniquet more, talking to Doc via comm. "We got problems.. massive blood loss, he's unconscious, unresponsive, BP is nonexistent, recommend course of action?!" There was silence for a long instant.

"Hit him with a shot of adrenaline.. cardiac direct." Lifeline acknowledged and grabbed his small bag, drawing out a syringe and attaching a long needle. "Make sure you hit the ventricle.."

The medic responded tersely. "I know how to do it.." He felt across the ninja's chest carefully, finding exactly the right dip in muscle. Aiming the needle, he jabbed it in, plunging it directly into the heart itself and injecting the liquid. Drawing it back out, he puffed out the breath he'd been holding. "It's in.." Slipping the stethoscope back up to his ears, he listened. "BeachHead.. squeeze those iv bags.. open the drips up full bore.." Slipping the ear pieces back out, he tugged the comm unit back into place. "He's still got a pulse, but it's erratic."

A new voice came over the earpiece. "You get him here, we'll put him back together."

Lifeline looked confused. "Who is this?"

The voice sounded cheerful. "Hey, I'm Dr. Piernick, surgical specialist. I've fixed up shark victims and such, your friend will do just.."

The medic got an angry look. "Get off my comm line!! Brag about yourself on your own time, and get off the comm line! Doc.. pulse erratic, but we almost got a BP. What's our ETA, Wild Bill?"

The somber voice came from the cockpit. "Twenty-seven minutes.."

"Unacceptable Wild Bill, can you get us there faster?" The medic handed Scarlett another bag of fluid. "Change the empty out for that.. and squeeze it.. he'll be bleeding out saline but it'll be pumping."

The texan pilot's voice sounded distressed. "Lifeline, I've got her at redline and then some. I'm eeking ever' bit of speed I can outa it."

"Eek more.. or Snake Eyes isn't going to make it." They all heard the engines begin to strain just a little more.

* * * *

Landing at the Pit nineteen minutes later..

Lifeline grabbed a side of the stretcher, and BeachHead grabbed the other. Scarlett went ahead, making a clear aisle by main force when necessary. Doc had wheeled a gurney up and they deposited the limp form onto it. Scarlett followed after them, with Lifeline beside Doc rattling off the vitals and information. BeachHead stood there breathing hard. He turned and walked back out to the chopper, ignoring everyone's questions.

Flint followed after him. "Snakes looks bad.. how bad is he?" BeachHead shook his head and turned. Flint blanched at the blood covered sergeant. "Good lord! Are you okay?"

"I'm.. I'm fine..." BeachHead suddenly staggered to the side and bent over to vomit. Flint reached to take his shoulder. "I'm okay.. leave me alone.." He gasped hard. "He's cut to pieces.. we got the guys who put those wires up.. we got 'em." Flint nodded and handed him a cloth. "Thanks.." He wiped his mouth and looked at the chopper.. and then down at the floor.. with the trail of blood spatter. Twisting away, he retched again, and Flint stepped up to help him.

Flints voice was as hard as his namesake as he turned to some of the motorpool crew. "Get that chopper cleaned up.. get the blood out of here.." He swallowed hard and gave the shaken man beside him a quick pat. "It's alright Beach, he'll be fine. Snakes is tough."

* * * *

Duke finally walked into the Pit hours later. The motorpool was suspiciously crowded with people, as was the messhall and rec room. He looked around at the worried faces. "I haven't heard more than he's still alive. When I know, you'll know." They parted in front of him, until Ripcord stopped him.

"Duke.. you need to.." The exhausted lieutenant shook his head, brushing his friend aside. "Duke.. " His hissed whisper stopped him finally. "Duke.. at least go clean up.. you're still covered in blood.." Duke glanced down at the dark caked blood all over his fatigues.

"Oh..." He turned and headed for his quarters. "Thanks.. I gotta change.." Ripcord followed after him. Once they were in his quarters, Ripcord took the clean clothing from his hands.

He shook his head. "Showers first.. Duke.. are you okay?"

Duke gazed at his hands, still spattered with blood, like the rest of him. "Yeah... Rip.. he was real bad.. I just don't understand.." He sat down in his chair suddenly. "We were going fine.. flight path was easy with those jet units.. it was great.. and then suddenly he.. he just shut off his jet, and it flipped over.."

Ripcord shook his head. "I don't know man. Maybe he saw the wires."

Duke twisted his hands. "If he saw the wires.. why didn't he avoid them? Why would he have shut the engines down? Why make it flip into the wire trap? Why didn't he warn us? First we knew, was when his engines went off, and.. " He became thoughtful. "He blew on the mic.. and he shut the engines off, and.. he was warning us about the wires.."

Ripcord sighed. "It sounds like something Snakes would do.. especially with Scarlett following. What else could he do to warn you? The man can't shout a warning.."

Duke got up and paced out. "I have to get cleaned up. Hawk said he's running a unit to check out those wires and see how Cobra got out there."

Ripcord handed the clothing over. "I'll head down now.. see if I can get an update." Duke nodded, and left without commenting further.

* * * *

Scarlett was seated in the front of the medical emergency ward when Ripcord entered. "Hey.. Scarlett... have you heard anything?" She looked up and he felt a pang at how terrible she looked. Her beauty was drawn out by the worry and pain.

"Yeah.. nurses have said everything is going fine, about ten times." She leaned forward and he held out the coffee cup. "Thanks." He motioned for her to come with him.

"Come on.. you need to come eat something." She shook her head. "No really.."

"No... I'm not leaving. I'm waiting until I hear from someone, Snake Eyes is in there somewhere, and I'm not about to leave him alone." Ripcord sat down next to her. "He's everything.."

"I know girl.. I know." He hazarded putting an arm around her. "He'll pull through. He's Snake Eyes.. he'll probably come dragging his tough ninja butt out the door there any minute, waving his hands all over griping at everyone about how he's perfectly fine."

She laughed and then sniffled. "Yeah.. I know. But he was cut up so bad. Duke didn't want to let me set eyes on him.. He'll make it. There's some special surgeon here at the Pit.. Lifeline yelled at him over the comm."

Ripcord gave her a confused look. "Uhh.. Lifeline? Yelled?"

She smiled and drank some of the coffee. "Yeah.. he was in medic-mode and whoever this hotshot doctor is, he was talking on the comm link.. and Lifeline let him have it, told him to get off 'his' comm line. It was grand. He kept Snakes alive on the chopper. Him and BeachHead."

The paratrooper gave her a startled look. "BeachHead? You mean he can do something other than yell really loudly?" She rolled her eyes. "Kidding.. he's a good guy.. I know. Never pictured him doing medic duty though."

"Yeah.. well Duke and him kept Snakes alive until I could get Lifeline there.. Beach has been a good friend. People just tune him out because he's the drill sergeant. Just like everyone tunes Snake Eyes out because he's the silent ninja."

He nodded. "Sometimes people can't past the surface. It's not just Snakes.. or BeachHead. But most of the Joes do make more effort to know their team. We're a family here. And right now, everyone is pulling for Snakes to make it, and come storming out of here, against Doc's orders.. just like always."

She smiled and leaned her head over onto his shoulder briefly. "Thanks. He's a tough guy, but everyone's number has to come up sometime." He bumped his head into hers gently. "I know, I know. Think positive."

He grinned at her. "No way, think the very worst is gonna happen.. that way you're sure to be pleasantly surprised." She sighed at him.

"I guess.." She suddenly jumped up when Lifeline came walking out.

He wiped his face and looked at her. "Come on back.." Ripcord stood up anxiously. The medic seemed to see him and shook his head. "Not you.. but you can let people know. He'll pull through just fine."

Rip leapt up in the air and pumped his fist. "Yeah! I told you Scarlett!" He trotted off to spread the news. Scarlett followed the medic.

"He's not awake, but I know you need to see him." Lifeline looked over at her. "He'll recover, really. I'm sorry I couldn't come out sooner. We've literally been stitching on him for hours it seems. That surgeon was a huge help, he really is good. After I apologized for yelling at him, we got along great."

Scarlett nodded at the commentary, but was more focused on getting to the back. They finally got back to the ICU recovery room and she moved to the side of the bed, reaching out to take the limp fingers in her hand.

"Hey Snakes..." She took in the yards of bandaging. For once, his face was nearly the only uncovered part of him. Scarlett let her fingers comb through the short blond hair, and stroked his scarred cheek lightly. "You're gonna be fine." Lifeline cleared his throat and she stepped back in time for a strange doctor to enter.

The tall handsome man in scrubs smiled at her and extended a hand. "Dr. Piernick, surgeon." She shook his hand and watched him beam at the unconscious commando. "Some good work, putting this fellow back together. Pity about his face." She felt herself twitch and tried not to show it. "Was a bit of a job, but then, I usually end up working with animal attacks.. same sort of injury. So it wasn't anything new." She saw Lifeline rolling his eyes and tried not to snicker.

Scarlett crossed her arms and stood listening as he went on for a few moments about the types of complex surgeries he'd preformed. "Wow.. yes. I'm sure Snake Eyes was lucky to have you around today. With as badly off as he was, it was probably quite the job to get him stitched back up."

That sent him off on another long explanation of how delicate and complex it was, and how superb a job he'd done. She nodded and hummed at the appropriate spots. Finally something caught her attention. "I'm sorry... what?"

He smiled. "Well I was just explaining that the repair work on his throat was pretty delicate. But I'm certain it won't affect his voice, once it heals, he'll be just as good as new." His beaming smile didn't diminish even as she half-closed one eye, looking at him.

"Really? That's good." Her sarcasm went unmarked. After a few more minutes, he finally announced he had to go do important things and left. When he was out of sight, she sighed. "How do you stand to be around him, Lifeline?"

The medic groaned and shook his head. "I can't. I usually just avoid him as much as possible. But.. he is one of the best surgeons, especially for reconstructive traumatic injuries. But there were three of us in the OR working on Snake Eyes. I'd love to tell you the number of stitches we put in, but we all stopped counting after a thousand."

She turned back and took hold of his fingers again. "But, he'll be fine, right?" Lifeline nodded and ran a quick check of vital signs again. "Thanks Lifeline."

He grinned, still checking the settings on the monitor. "All part of my job. I get paid to put you guys back together."

She reached over and squeezed his arm fondly. "No.. I'm pretty sure there was no clause about riding double on an experimental personal aircraft, or about piecing together a sliced up ninja in the field with only the medical equipment you could stuff in your shirt."

Now the medic grinned at her. "Well.. no. But the ride wasn't that bad. The scenery was grand!" She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, it was fine. Whatever got me to my patient in time. As it turns out, BeachHead was doing pretty good without me. It was just a lot of work putting Snake Eyes back together, it was like fixing a kid's toy after they threw a tantrum on it. But now that he's out of the woods, it'll just be a few days before he can start getting up and around. It'll be weeks before he's recovered, but I know he'll be pushing to get out as soon as he can crawl out of the bed. Doc was giving Hawk the full report, so I better get back there."

Scarlett pulled the room's chair over and settled in to wait. Sooner or later, her ninja would wake, and she wanted to be here when he did.

* * * *

"Scarlett?" She blinked at Duke's concerned face. "Hey... how're you doing?" She groaned and sat up from the awkward slouch she'd slid into.

"I'm fine.." She automatically got up to check on Snake Eyes. "He's doing fine too. How about you?"

He shrugged, and then gave her a sideways look. "I'm okay.. I figured out why Snakes here shut off the jet engines and ended up in the wires, rather than avoiding it.." She only gave him a raised eyebrow. "If he had shot upwards over it, we both would have ended up in it, probably head first and sliced to ribbons. He had no other way to warn us.. other than basically hitting it himself."

"Oh no.." She shook her head. "It makes sense.. Snakes would do that. We wouldn't have seen it until it was too late.. we almost didn't climb at a steep enough angle as it was. Did Hawk find out about the wire trap?"

Duke looked grim. "Cobra operatives of course. They were on hand to seize the jet units, but typically, they screwed up and weren't in position until back up arrived, and unfortunately for them, my back-up was BeachHead with a fifty cal, and Ace with some big heavy crates. Good thing.. if they'd tried to hit us even five minutes earlier, I'd have been a sitting duck."

She smiled. "You did good. Annd Beach, and Ace, and Lifeline... as always, the Joes always win out in the end." She felt a tug on her fingers and whipped around to see Snake Eyes opening his eyes to look at her. "Hey! How's the big bad ninja man?" He lifted a bandaged hand up wincing to sign at her shortly.

*When leave?*

She rolled her eyes and shook her finger sternly. "No leaving. Right now, you're laying here and healing. You have more stitches in you than a clothing factory. Tell you what.. if they say you can have food, I'll even bring you stuff from Roadblock, instead of whatever stuff they say you can have."

He rolled his eyes and looked at Duke who shrugged elaborately at him. "I told you so. Should have listened."

The ninja pointed at him briefly. *Saving butt kicking later* He paused then signed slower. *Thank you.*

Duke grinned. "Hey, it was nothing, you'd have done the same thing for me."

He coughed slightly at him, shaking his head. *Help up*

Now Duke shook his head firmly. "No way. You're staying put for a while. I know.. add another butt kicking to my list, I'll get them all at once. I gotta go, Hawk is livid that Cobra was right inside our testing area and no one saw them. They had the tanks in pits dug into the sand, who knows how long they were out there. The wires were strung overnight."

Snake Eyes reached up and Duke grabbed his hand and squeezed gently. He gave a small nod to the lieutenant and turned loose to sign once more hopefully. *Help up?*

Now Duke laughed. "You're just trying to get me into trouble. Stay put until Doc says otherwise. Scarlett, get some rest." He strode out, leaving behind the redhead scolding a very uncontrite ninja.

Scarlett propped her chin in her hand, looking at him shifting uncomfortably in the bed. "I'm really happy you'll be okay. You really had us scared for a while. Odd how it seems you end up putting yourself in harm's way so often for the team.. when they all just think you're the deadliest thing ever born, no mercy, no heart, scary ninja." She saw him roll his eyes at her and smiled. "It's okay.. I know you're a big old softie, but I won't tell." He struggled to lift his hand, already exhausted just from the brief talk with Duke and her. "What? What can I do?"

*Help up?*

"No! I'm not helping you up out of the bed!! Stubborn blasted ninjas!!"

* * * *

End Fic:

Yep.. that's the end. I figured I'd just stick all three chapters up at once, give you all a treat. Hope you enjoyed. Remember, Reviews let me know what you like and don't like and also trigger plot bunnies that turn into MORE fics. You don't HAVE to review, but if you DON'T review, I won't know what you liked!


End file.
